Optimal Planning of Health Services through Genetic Algorithm and Discrete Event Simulation: A Proposed Model and Its Application to Stroke Rehabilitation Care

Increasing demand for provision of care to stroke survivors creates challenges for health care planners. A key concern is the optimal alignment of health care resources between provision of acute care, rehabilitation, and among different segments of rehabilitation, including inpatient rehabilitation, early supported discharge (ESD), and outpatient rehabilitation (OPR). In this study we propose a novel application of discrete event simulation (DES) combined with a genetic algorithm (GA) to identify the optimal configuration of rehabilitation that maximizes patient benefits subject to finite health care resources.